Supplements Category

If you’re a Healthcare Professional recommending Butterbur (Petasites) to your patients, it’s important that you stay up-to-date on the latest information (see links at the end of this post).

As a chemist, medical researcher, and drug developer, four of the multitudinous questions you ask yourself when trying to decide if you should invest time and money into developing, using or recommending a particular compound are:

1.) How likely is it to be effective for the specific condition it’s being considered to treat?
2.) Are there any known or potential side effects or adverse events that could hypothetically occur?
3.) How do the answers to question #2 impact the risk/reward profile of the compound.
4.) Are there any other competing compounds that seem to have similar benefits with lower risk?

Over 15 years ago when we received multiple patents describing the use of a combination of two magnesium sources, high dose riboflavin, and special extracts of feverfew for prophylaxis of migraines, butterbur had not yet been shown in a randomized clinical trial to be effective for migraine prophylaxis. Of course back in 2002, when the study by Lipton et al was published showing efficacy, I paid a lot of attention to butterbur and strongly considered creating an additional formula or adding it to our existing patented combination (now known as Akeso’s MigreLief with Puracol™). Since the release of our Original MigreLief with Puracol™ we have formulated new products with additional ingredients, for example MigreLief+M for menstrual/hormonal migraines and MigreLief-NOW a fast-acting “as needed” formula, yet none of our products contain butterbur.

It was clear that the response to butterbur was favorable and by not offering it in one of our products we would be losing out on the additional revenue it was sure to generate. Nevertheless we decided never to use butterbur in any of our products. We could never get comfortable with the fact that we had to rely on a manufacturing process to consistently remove the Hepato-toxic and carcinogenic pyrolizidine alkaloids that are found in unprocessed butterbur. Of course this was just our company’s decision and many companies and healthcare professionals used or recommended butterbur. In fact, the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society supported butterbur.

As healthcare professionals we all try to stay current on as much of the medical literature and reporting as possible.In the last few years, much new information has surfaced regarding butterbur and we are providing you with links to that third party information to enable you to make the best decisions for your patients (see below).

Decemer 2017 – “Caution: Due to reports of liver toxicity, butterbur products are being voluntarily withdrawn from markets in the United Kingdom. Based on these reports, butterbur should not be used unless a doctor determines that the potential benefits outweigh the risks. People taking butterbur should be monitored by the doctor for adverse effects.”

“…Despite butterbur’s potential efficacy, doubts are increasing about the long-term safety of this supplement given the risk of liver damage and the lack of an actively regulated preparation. Due to the mounting concerns, the American Headache Society is currently evaluating a position statement cautioning against its use.” Migraine Preventative Butterbur Has Safety Concerns

The herb Feverfew (Tanacetum Parthenium) has been recorded as a medicinal remedy for millennia. One can find references to the Latin “febrefugia” from which Feverfew gets its name in Old Saxon records. Hildegard of Bingen, a great 12th century abbess and healer made mention of it in her herbal tomes. Febrefugia literally means “Fever flies,” and has always been used as a fever reducer among other purposes. In even more ancient times, the Greeks used Feverfew to treat melancholy which was characterized as much by debilitating headaches as it was by long-term depression.

Historically Feverfew has also been used as a dietary supplement for headaches, constipation, diarrhea, and dizziness. But one of the greatest boons in the modern era is the discovery of Feverfew as an aid for migraine headaches.
FEVERFEW & MIGRAINES
Commonly recommended for its ability to support cerebrovascular tone, Feverfew is rich in compounds known as sesquiterpene lactones. One of the more important of these compounds is parthenolide, which represents 85% of the sesquiterpene lactone content in Feverfew. Some scientific studies indicate that while parthenolide may be important there may very well be other phytochemicals in Feverfew that are as of yet unidentified and play a role in its effectiveness.

PURACOL FEVERFEW
Some studies of extracts of feverfew containing parthenolide yielded no significant benefits. This led researchers to believe that some of the unidentified phytochemicals may have been left behind during the extraction process. The ideal solution would be a non-extracted feverfew product that naturally contained high levels of parthenolide AND kept all of the other naturally occurring phytochemicals as well. For this reason Puracol Feverfew (AKESO HEALTH SCIENCE’S proprietary non extracted plant source for feverfew with high levels of naturally occurring parthenolide) was developed. Puracol Feverfew is just one of the reasons for the superior efficacy of MigreLief, which delivers optimal dosages of parthenolide. Scientific studies have found parthenolide inhibits platelet aggregation and the release of serotonin from platelets and polymorphonuclear leukocyte granules.* It has also been shown to inhibit pro-inflammatory prostaglandin synthesis and the release of arachadonic acid. Each of these phenomena is associated with migraines. European studies have shown the benefits of feverfew on long-term cerebrovasular tone in multiple human studies.

INHIBITING BLOOD PLATELET AGGREGATION
Feverfew can help to prevent the clumping together of platelets in the blood – part of the sequence of events leading to the formation of a clot)

Over aggregating of platelets in the blood appear just before a migraine forcing a release of serotonin. Serotonin causes the blood vessel to constrict. Scientific studies have found parthenolide inhibits platelet aggregation and the release of serotonin from platelets and polymorphonuclear leukocyte granules, thus keeping the blood vessel normal resulting in less painful, less frequent or cessation of migraines.

Feverfew has also been shown to inhibit pro-inflammatory prostaglandin synthesis and the release of arachadonic acid. Each of these phenomena is associated with migraines. European studies have shown the benefits of Feverfew on long-term cerebrovasular tone in multiple human studies.

ACTIVATING DYSFUNCTIONAL BRAIN PROCESSES
Though the exact cause of migraines is not known, certain triggers like tyramine in aged cheeses, chocolate, scents/perfumes, bright lights, changes in weather/temperature/humidity/altitude, over-use of headache medications, stress, hormonal fluctuations and many more, can activate certain processes that increase the risk of migraines occurring.

The dysfunctional processes that these triggers can activate are:

* Excessive platelet aggregation which can result in changes in blood vessels associated with migraines.

* Decrease in the cellular energy reserves in the brain that are common to migraine sufferers.

NUTRITIONAL APPROACH – When Migraine Sufferers Get These 3 Factors Under Control – The Results Can Be Life Changing

1. Maintain normal platelet aggregation

2. Reduce or eliminate vasospasms

3. Maintain normal mitochondrial energy reserve in the brain.

A Nutritional Approach to Migraine Control: Riboflavin, Magnesium and Feverfew for maintaining normal cerebrovascular function.All 3 of these ingredients are listed in the American Academy of Neurology’s Guidelines for Migraine Prevention.Magnesium: Research studies show that almost half of all migraine sufferers have low blood levels of Magnesium, which is critical in controlling vasospasms (the contraction and dilation of blood vessels in the brain which occurs during migraines).

Riboflavin: Migraine sufferers also suffer mitochondrial energy deficiencies, which Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) can improve when given in high dosages.

Feverfew: Research studies show Feverfew inhibits blood platelet aggregation and is anti-inflammatory.

For adults and children over the age of 2 who suffer migraines chronically, this combination is a great place to start and is a good alternative to the chronic use of NSAIDs like aspirin, and ibuprofen without the negative side-effects. You can find these formulas at MIGRELIEF.com

A common assumption is that headaches in children might be related to poor vision. Often times, children who complain of headaches (as well as visual issues) are referred to pediatric ophthalmologists. It is estimated that 25% of pediatric patients who see an ophthalmologist for headaches meet the diagnostic criteria for migraine. The percentages were the same for male and female patients.

In addition to head pain, during a migraine attack, some children may experience blurred vision, perception of jagged lines, or partial loss of vision. Ophthalmologists should remain cognizant of the prevalence of pediatric migraine and consider it in pediatric patients complaining of migraine symptoms.

Opthalmic migraines much more commonly (but incorrectly) called “ocular migraines” by laypeople are painless, temporary visual disturbances that can affect one or both eyes and may last only 20 – 30 minutes. If the visual disturbance is followed by a throbbing one-sided headache, it is referred to as “migraine with aura” (classic migraine) and the visual disturbance is called an aura rather than an ocular migraine. A migraine without a visual disturbance is called a migraine without aura (common migraine). ocular/opthalmic migraines are believed to have the same causes as migraine headaches. Unfortunately a visit to the eye doctor may not help much in terms of how to treat or prevent ocular migraines as the vision symptoms that accompany ocular migraines are not related directly to the eyes but rather to the migraine activity in the brain.

Children’s Headaches Rarely Linked to Vision Problems
Regarding headaches… In a study conducted by pediatric ophthalmologists at Albany Medical Center in New York State, researchers reviewed medical records of children under age 18 who were seen at the clinic between 2002 – 2011 and all had received complete eye examinations. The findings showed there was no significant correlation between children’s frequent headaches and a need for vision correction. “We hope our study will reassure parents that in most cases, their children’s headaches are not related to vision or eye problems…” said Zachary Roth, MD, an ophthalmologist who led the research team.

What to Do if a Migraine Diagnosis is Made
If a diagnosis of migraine is made, before referring out to a pediatric neurologist, ophthalmologists may want to place pediatric patients on a combination of nutritional supplements that many pediatric neurologists recommend to maintain normal cerebrovascular function. These ingredients are:

High dose Riboflavin (Vit-B2)

Magnesium

Feverfew
All 3 ingredients are listed in the American Academy of Neurology’s Guidelines for Migraine Prophylaxis.

The power of huge corporations and politics adds up to Americans paying the most in the world for healthcare yet two years ago we were ranked dead last for the fifth time in the developed world and last year the World Health Organization listed the U.S as 37th in overall efficiency. A few of the 36 countries that rate higher than the U.S. are France, Italy, Singapore, Spain, Israel, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Columbia, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Canada, Chile… The list goes on and on and it is a disgrace.

Furthermore, the United States health statistics seem to be getting worse. Last year, America was the only developed country in the world that experienced a decrease in life expectancy.

American’s pay 2-4 times more for the same pharmaceutical drugs purchased by citizens of other major countries. Pharmaceutical companies donate hundreds of millions of dollars to politicians in order to influence the price our American healthcare system pays for their drugs. In fact, a study by Harvard researchers published in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that the nature of the American drug market as designed and regulated by our government is to blame. Other countries negotiate much harder to keep the drug prices down and are willing to say “No” to over priced drugs.

As a percentage of our gross domestic product, the U.S. cost of healthcare was 50% higher than France and almost double that of the United Kingdom yet we rank dead last. The profits of the huge healthcare and pharmaceutical companies are thriving but the American citizens are not.

Though dietary supplements were not shown by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) to have caused one death last year while prescriptions drugs were shown to have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, district attorneys of some states, in my opinion, to further their own political careers and aspirations have attacked the supplement industry and conspicuously for the most part, have left big pharma alone. This is politics at its worst. These are attempts by politically motivated entities and individuals to divert our attention away from the very real and serious problems by worrying about what… Vitamins?

Obvioiusly, this is all very upsetting and we as American citizens are getting the raw end of the deal. I don’t know how to curtail the power that the money of huge corporations can buy politically but I do know what you can do to rely less on this broken American healthcare system.

You’ve heard this before but you need to stay healthy:

Exercise, even if its just walking for10-15 minutes a day 4-5 times a week.

Cut back on sugar… Read labels and try to consume less than 50 grams a day of sugar, and cutting back on soda and deserts is a good place to start.

Take a multi-vitamin every day from one of the well known dietary supplement companies.

Get at least 7 hours a day of sleep.

Try to eat fish like salmon at least once a week, don’t worry about mercury, the issue is way over-stated and not of concern.

When we are run down, stressed or actually sick, our bodies burn through vitamin C at an alarming rate. Once your vitamin C levels drop, your immune system becomes more compromised which could lead to other health issues.

This explains why we are able to tolerate much larger than normal doses of vitamin C than we would normally require when we have a cold or flu or other infections.

Interestingly, in healthy people who regularly consume vegetable and some fruits and/or supplement with vitamin C, recommended vitamin C levels are around 70 micromoles per liter yet these levels drop precipitously when we have a health problem. For examples these levels drop to:

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin C at 90 mg. is enough to prevent scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency but woefully too low to provide optimal levels of this vitamin.

I recommend 500-1000 mg/day of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) which is 5-11 times the recommended RDA. Regular, inexpensive ascorbic acid is all that is necessary and don’t get caught up in all of the advertising hype about fancy and much more expensive forms of vitamin C being better or more bioavailable.

Vitamin C is protective on so many levels. In addition to strongly supporting immune function, other proven benefits are:

7- Powerful antioxidant that also protects and restores other antioxidants

8- Protects connective tissue, bones, arteries and skin

9- Crucially beneficial to wound healing

10- May reduce the duration and severity of the common cold and in higher doses may reduce flu symptoms

Vitamin C is one of the most important supplements to include in your diet to keep your body functioning properly. Whether you eat lots of fruits and vegetables or take it in caplet or powdered form, make sure to get at least 500-1,000 mg. double that if you are a smoker or drinker and don’t be afraid to really increase your intake when you are sick.

Many of you already know that stress is one of the most common migraine triggers.

STRESS CAN ALSO AFFECT HORMONES THAT CAUSE INCREASES IN ABDOMINAL FAT LEADING TO WEIGHT GAIN, COMPROMISED MEMORY AND DEPRESSION.

HERE’S WHAT TO DO!

The stress hormone “Cortisol,” which is released by our adrenal glands, can protect us in dangerous or trying times but if the stress is constant, then it can lower your immune system and add dangerous life threatening fat to your abdomen.

Cortisol is important for maintaining blood pressure and providing energy for the body. Cortisol stimulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism for fast energy, stimulates the release of insulin and maintains blood sugar levels. The end result of these actions can be an increase in appetite.

Research has consistently shown that stress can and does, in some people result in over-eating and weight gain. Even if you usually eat well and exercise, chronic high stress can prevent you from losing weight—or add pounds.

Luckily, research is also showing that controlling stress can prevent weight gain.
Research published in the Journal of Obesity found that even without going on a formal diet, people who controlled their stress and just thought about what they were eating, prevented weight gain.

The question is, “How can I control my stress levels?” Saying it is a lot easier than actually doing it So what are some stress busting techniques that work?

1- Certain B vitamins found in a B complex available in any health food store can help with the effects of stress on your body and hormones

2- Regular exercise at least 3 times a week, for just 15 minutes, if done in intervals (see 9XTrim Pulsed Interval Training explanation at 9XTrim.com) can be a major stress buster.

3- An herbal extract of Ashwagandha (one of the most powerful herbs in Ayurvedic herbal medicine) can really center you while decreasing the feelings of nervousness and anxiety caused by chronic stress.

4- Meditation is a proven stress reducer. Spending even a few minutes meditating can restore your calm and inner peace. You can practice meditation wherever you are, whether you are walking, waiting for an appointment, or sitting at your desk.

5- Structured breathing is very calming. Breath in through your nose for 10 seconds, hold it for 30 seconds and then slowly release the breath through your mouth for 15 seconds. Done once or twice every hour or two, can do wonders to keep you calm.

It was recently reported that a study done by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) stated that supplements caused 23,000 visits to emergencies rooms last year.

If you were not aware of the trend by pharma companies and organizations like the CDC that work closely with them, to sway you into believing synthetic pharmaceutical drugs are safe and dietary supplements are not, you might think 23,000 is a lot of people, even assuming all 23,000 visits were correctly attributable to supplements and not something else. Let’s put that number in perspective.

The figure quoted referred only to emergency room visits and not hospitalizations. Furthermore, the study didn’t report how many of the 23,000 visits were serious enough to require hospitalization. I believe we can be fairly certain that only a percentage of the 23,000 people ended up being hospitalized.

But even if all 23,000 were hospitalized (which is clearly NOT the case), by comparison 375,000 people were hospitalized for food poisoning last year, 5,000 of whom died (as reported by the CDC). Yet, a report in 2010 from the American Association of Poison control Centers National Poison Data System revealed that there were “ZERO” deaths linked to dietary supplements in 2010.

This means that over 16 times more people had issues with the food they ate than the supplements they took with the food issues resulting in 5,000 deaths and the supplements resulting in ”ZERO” deaths.

It is estimated that over half of the population in the U.S. takes some kind of dietary supplement. If each of these people just took two supplement pills a day, that would result in 120,000 BILLION supplement doses a year with “ZERO” deaths. This is truly impressive. The food we eat is NOT as safe as the supplements we take!

Further more an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) stated that 107,000 people in the U.S. were killed by prescription drugs in 2000. (JAMA 2000 Vol 284 #4).

When popular conventional medicine websites publish this kind of data about dietary supplements without putting it into perspective, they are doing their readers a disservice and makes one wonder whose well-being they are really trying to protect?

I am hard pressed to name a single vitamin that has consistently shown to be able to decrease all-cause mortality as well as cardiovascular and cancer mortality as Vitamin D-3 (cholecalciferol). The studies depicting these benefits continue to accrue.

At this point in time, I recommend that everyone supplement at least 2000-5000 IU per day of vitamin D-3, with the goal being that when you have your physiciancheck your vitamin D levels after a few months of supplementation, they be in the 40-60 ng/ml range.

If they are not in this range, double the amount of vitamin D you’re taking daily and have your levels checked again in 4-5 months. Some people, even with additional daily D-3 supplementation, do not easily increase their vitamin D-3 levels. If upon having them tested the second time, your levels did not increase very much (despite having doubled your daily dose), discuss this with your doctor.

Discuss this with your physician and you may have to take as much as 50,000 IU of vitamin D-3 a day (or more) to get up to 40-60 ng/ml. I know that going to your doctor’s office or a lab can be inconvenient but it is so worth it to decrease your risk of death from all causes as well as specifically from heart disease and cancer!

Here’s a brief summary of just two of the several studies that reported these vitamin D-3 benefits. 1.) Published in the prestigious British Medical Journal, 2014, Jun 17, a meta-analysis (a study that compiles and evaluates the reported data from multiple studies on a given topic) of both European and U.S. published studies found that: 0f the 26,000 participants (age 50-79) reported on, in all of the included studies, those who had the lowest vitamin D levels had a RR (relative risk) of 1.57 (an RR of 1 is neutral) for both all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality and a similar RR for cancer related mortality in those who previously had cancer. 2.) A second study published in April, 2013 in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition also reported decreasing vitamin D levels were inversely related to all-cause, cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory mortality rates.

Links to abstracts of these studies are below. For those of you who are interested, vitamin D levels can be reported as ng/ml (which is the denomination we referred to above) or nanomoles/Litre. To convert ng/ml into nmoles/liter multiply the ng/ml by 2.5. Vitamin D-3 in 5000 iu soft gels is relatively inexpensive and all of you reading this article should strongly consider supplementing this powerfully healthy vitamin today.

I am passionate about what I do. For over 30 years I have dedicated my life to researching, developing and patenting nutritional formulations or “safer medicines” to address common and not so common health problems challenging people today. If you are familiar with my MigreLief migraine formulas, you know they have been granted multiple U.S. patents and are life changing and superior in quality and efficacy.

My company, Akeso Health Sciences, will soon be releasing new supplements addressing STRESS/MEMORY, DRUG FREE SLEEP and BREAST HEALTH that we believe will prove to be as effective in these very important health areas as MigreLief is for migraines. Many people think of stress and sleep problems as relatively harmless lifestyle issues. Nothing could be further from the truth! Chronic stress and sleep problems can lead to very serious disease and illness which negatively impact longevity.

Look for future in-depth articles from me on these subjects and upcoming new product release dates. Better yet, you may receive Akeso announcements, product release notices and get my take on the latest health and wellness issues by signing up for my Newsletter at this link: Akeso Health News.

Here is a sneak peak of what is to come:

“AVIARA” for Superlative Breast Health

Of all the various health concerns that can affect women, ( i.e. heart disease, osteoporosis, endometriosis etc.) perhaps the one most personal and on the mind of a large percentage of women is BREAST HEALTH.

I have seen and lived with the impact of breast disease on the lives of young, middle-aged and older women and created AVIARA, literally after years of research and review of the multitudinous options. I am proud of what we have created in AVIARA and hope many women will read more about it, become knowledgeable and include it in their lives.

The ingredients in AVIARA are impressively effective at helping women to maintain or reestablish healthy levels of oxidation, inflammatory response and hormonal balance which are the three most important factors in maintaining healthy breasts over your lifetime.

“SLEEP ALL NIGHT”

We believe this sleep aid will be an unparalled and much-needed formulation that is extremely effective at helping both men and women to get to sleep more easily, stay asleep and cycle through the most therapeutic kinds of sleep through out the night

We will be shortly releasing our treatise describing the unhealthy and life shortening effects of chronic poor sleep in humans. Not getting what we call “therapeutic” sleep leads to a lot more than just feeling tired in the morning.

“CALM & CLEVER”

Everyone is occasionally stressed, that a normal part of life. But with the advent of new technology allowing us to generate more work product faster and more efficiently, more is expected of us.The pressure of having 24/7 access to data, friends, employees via emails, texts, the Internet, increases demands on our time and there is little wonder that stress levels have risen to historically reported highs. CHRONIC STRESS HAS UNHEALTHY SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM RAMIFICATIONS!

Chronic stress can negatively influence:

1- Cognitive performance and memory

2- Can increase both levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in our bodies that lead to myriad diseases and decreased longevity.

3- Hormonal imbalance which can lead to obesity as well as increase cancer risk.

It has been shown that the physiological effects of stress and it impact both on health and memory and cognitive performance can be offset by certain clinically tested (i.e.tested in humans, in double blinded studies) if the proper forms and dosages of certain ingredients are taken.

Akeso will be releasing “Calm and Clever” in the first quarter of 2015. It is an exquisitely formulated cocktail of ingredients that will make you feel centered and calm, while at the same time generate a noticeable improvement in your ability to retrieve facts, remember names and retrieve the perfect word you were searching for when speaking to others.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results may vary and testimonials listed on this website are not intended to be a guarantee.